Monetary supply up by 2.1 %in May

Kuwait' monetary supply (M2) edged up by 2.1 percent to KD 32067.5 million in May, 2013 compared to last April's figures, according to statistics released by the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK). The private sector's deposits in Kuwaiti dinars at local banks surged by 2. 4 percent to KD 27715.9 million, while deposits in foreign currencies decreased by 2.5 percent to KD 2892.7 million, the CBK monthly bulletin of the Economic Research Department showed on Tuesday. Local banks' claims on the CBK, represented in CBK bonds, went up by 1.4 percent to KD 1842 million in May, as their combined assets rose by 1.9 percent to KD 49680.0 million at the end of May. Local banks' net foreign assets inched up by 0.3 percent in May to reach KD 7066.7 million, while time deposits with the CBK spiked by 11.2 percent to KD 3286.3 million in May, the CBK figures indicated. Non-residents' deposits in Kuwaiti dinars slipped by 12.3 percent to KD 2718.6 million, but such deposits in foreign currencies increased by 1.0 percent to KD 2132.8 million. Balance of utilized cash credit facilities to foreign residents went up by 1.1 percent last May to KD 27797.6 million, while the average interest rate on one-year treasury bonds stood at 1.0 percent, the CBK figures showed. Kuwait's financing of imports increased in May by about 10.7 percent, reaching KD 392.2 million, while the average exchange rate of the US dollar appreciated last April by 0.2 percent to 285.36 fils compared to last March